1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a saddle that conforms to the shape of a horse's back and flexes to conform to the horse's back as it changes during movement. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a saddle having flexible rubber bars that ride on the horse and support the saddle.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 C.F.R. Sections 1.97-1.99
Conventionally, horse saddles are made of leather pieces that are laid up on a saddle tree. Saddle trees have conventionally been made of wood covered with stitched rawhide and many still are. Some modern saddle trees are made of fiberglass, which tends to be heavier than wood. Other saddle trees are made of wood covered in layers of fiberglass. In any case, the saddle tree consists of a base, which in turn consists of a pair of bar elements that are spaced apart and rest on the horse's back, with each bar being longer than it is wide and with the longitudinal axis of each bar laid along the horse's back from the front of the horse toward the back of the horse. A fork element is fixed to the bars at a location toward the front of the bars. A horn, usually a separate element, is fixed to the middle of the fork by screws or bolts. A cantle, which forms the back of the saddle tree and later the saddle itself, serves as a sort of back rest to keep the rider from slipping off the rear of the saddle, is fixed to the bars toward the back end of the bars. The fork and cantle are typically fixed to the bars with nails or the like. The saddle tree, or form, is then covered with leather, including a seat cover, ornamentation, cinch strap, stirrups, and so forth.
This type of rigid saddle tree does not actually fit the back of the horse because it is not custom made to the shape and size of any particular horse. Even if it were, the shape of the horse's back changes as it moves, regardless of speed. The hard rigid saddle tree of the prior art does not evenly distribute the weight of the rider and saddle, but rather places that weight on relatively small portions of the horse's back. The conventional saddle tree, in fact, forms a bridge across the horse's back between the withers and scapula toward the front of the horse and the loins, toward the rear of the horse. The effect is basically that the saddle and rider rest primarily on four small points and is not evenly distributed over the horse's back. As the horse moves, the rider and saddle shift back and forth, changing the pressure points on the horse's back. Placement of the weight of the rider and saddle on four small points bridged by a rigid saddle tree restricts the horse's freedom of movement and causes excessive friction at these points as the horse's skin stretches and shrinks as the shape of his body changes during movement. This causes the horse to sore-up, making him irritable and sometimes unridable.
One time-honored attempt to reduce or eliminate this problem is to place a blanket under the saddle, a practice that is still followed today. This modest layer of protection, however, does not always prevent sores on the horse and does nothing to address the problem of uneven pressure on the horse's back.
Another effort to reduce the likelihood of forming sores on a horse's back from the rubbing of the saddle is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,328, which discloses a saddle having a frame underlying the saddle tree frame, with these two elements connected by four screws that can be adjusted to change the distance between the saddle tree and the underlying frame, which is actually in contact with the horse's back. This allows the rider to level the saddle on the horse's back but does not reduce or eliminate high pressure points on the horse's back and does not evenly distribute the weight of the rider and saddle on the horse's back since the lower frame is connected to the saddle tree at only four small points. The horse still suffers from the poor weight distribution and excessive friction of the saddle tree. Therefore, the horse is still likely to become sore from excess pressure and friction. In addition, this saddle burdens the horse with more weight.
Therefore there is a need for a riding saddle trees for a horse that conforms to the back of the horse; that conforms to the back of the horse as the contours of the horse's back change during any type of movement, including, for example, walking, cantering, galloping, running and cutting; that is more comfortable for the rider; that allows a rider to be more stable in the saddle during all types of maneuvers; and that provides the horse with more freedom of movement and better weight distribution.